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02 September 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Dr Puseletso Mofokeng
Dr Julia Puseletso Mofokeng, from the UFS’s Department of Chemistry, is doing research into biodegradable polymers for application in disposable product packaging.

A researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS) is contributing to the fight against plastic pollution through her research into biodegradable polymers – large, chain-like molecules – as a more environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics.

Plastic pollution is a global environmental problem, with 19 to 23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaked into aquatic ecosystems every year.

Dr Julia Puseletso Mofokeng, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in the UFS Department of Chemistry, hopes her research into how biodegradable polymers can be used in disposable product packaging can influence the industry and policymakers to enforce the use of biopolymers or biodegradable polymers in disposable products. This would help reduce plastic waste and boost environment-conservation efforts.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) describes plastic waste as a serious environmental problem – humans produce about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. Approximately 36% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, including single-use plastic products for food and beverage containers, approximately 85% of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste.

Researching biodegradable polymers

Dr Mofokeng’s desire to solve the waste problem in her community of Bophelong village in Qwaqwa, Free State – where community members dumped and burned all sorts of waste, including plastics – inspired her towards her field of research.

Today, her research is aimed at managing plastic waste to combat environmental and atmospheric pollution (from incineration), conserve energy, and improve water quality, including ensuring safe drinking water.

High levels of plastic waste have led to increased research into and development of biodegradable polymers as an alternative to non-biodegradable materials for short-shelf-life goods (such as packaging for fresh fruit and vegetables).

Biopolymers or biodegradable polymers, explains Dr Mofokeng, are derived from renewable resources including, but not limited to, vegetable oils, starches and animal fats. They can therefore be easily disposed of after use without harming the environment.

“My research is based on the preparation and characterisation of completely biodegradable polymers, their blends, and composites or nanocomposites filled with unmodified or modified inorganic fillers, natural fibres, as well as synthesised carbonaceous materials,” she says.

Such materials are developed for various applications, including packaging, electromagnetic interference shielding (blocking unwanted signals), and the removal of heavy metals and other contaminants from water bodies. 

“To achieve these aims, I and my small research group are preparing completely biodegradable polymer blends.”

This involves adjusting their morphology (structure) and some of their properties (thermal, thermomechanical, mechanical, and flame retardancy) to match those of petroleum-based polymers in their replacement for disposable products; by reinforcing with natural fibres, and minerals.

Biodegradable polymers can degrade within a few days to a few years depending on their source, type, and biodegradation method used, while petroleum-based polymers can exist for hundreds to thousands of years without degrading. Moreover, because biodegradable polymers are produced from natural resources, their biodegradation mainly produces carbon dioxide, water, and other non-toxic byproducts, Dr Mofokeng adds.

“Biodegradable polymers can degrade by themselves under natural environmental conditions – in one to three years – or may require human intervention to degrade where composts are prepared or conditions are controlled in order to degrade the polymers. The latter two being the fastest, where it could take days to months. In my previous research project [we] kept polylactic acid filled with short sisal fibre in plain water at 80℃, and all the tested samples degraded within 10 days.”

She and a PhD student are conducting an ongoing experiment involving three different biodegradable polymer systems exposed to different conditions outside and under soil, measuring the rate of biodegradation by mimicking the environmental conditions found in dumping sites and landfills.

Signs of biodegradation on the samples showed clearly after 14 months, with cracks, surface erosion, and a decrease in the initial weighed mass, suggesting that the polymers could be completely degraded within two to three years.

Closer to goal

Dr Mofokeng, who has been a National Research Foundation (NRF) Y2-rated researcher since 2021, says since most food outlets and restaurants in South Africa have already started using paper- and bio-based polymer materials in cutlery, straws, and takeaway packaging, the country seems to be closer to its goal of using biodegradable polymers for disposable packaging.

The UFS, too, is aiming to phase out the use of plastic bottles in the next three to five years. This will be done by installing filtered water machines in all its buildings.

“We are now left with policymakers to enforce strict laws governing production; and retail industries to use biopolymers or biodegradable polymers in disposable packaging materials,” she says.

New research

Dr Mofokeng and her group’s research is in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ensuring good health and wellbeing (SDG3), providing clean water and sanitation (SDG6), forging sustainable cities and communities (SDG11), establishing sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG12), and protecting life below water (SDG14).

She has been researching polymers for almost two decades, and remains passionate about her research field and educating communities. Her new research project, in collaboration with colleagues from her department, targets the removal of heavy metals and other contaminants from groundwater. Testing and water treatment is set to take place in different regions in Qwaqwa, specifically among households that collect drinking and cooking water from boreholes.

Dr Mofokeng’s research group was established in 2016 with one honours and two master’s students. She has since supervised nine honours, seven master’s and one PhD student.

She also recently established international research collaborations with the Libyan Advanced Center for Chemical Analysis and the Faculty of Technology at the University of Banja Luka in Serbia.

News Archive

Premiere of the documentary on King Moshoeshoe - Address by the Rector
2004-10-14

Address by the rector and vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, prof Frederick Fourie, at the premiere of the documentary on King Moshoeshoe, Wednesday 13 October 2004

It is indeed a privilege to welcome you at this key event in the Centenary celebrations of the University of the Free State.

We are simultaneously celebrating 100 years of scholarship with 10 years of democracy

Today is a very important day with great significance for the University. This Centenary is not merely a celebration of an institution of a certain age. It is a key event in this particular phase of our history, in our transformation as an institution of higher learning, in taking the creation of a high-quality, equitable, non-racial, non-sexist, multicultural and multilingual university seriously.

This is about building something new out of the old, of creating new institutional cultures and values from diverse traditions.

It is about learning together - as an higher education institution - about who we are where we come from – to decide where we are going.

It is about merging the age-old tradition of the university, of the academic gown, with the Basotho blanket, the symbol of community engagement.

Then why is it important that we remember Moshoeshoe, where does he fit into our history?

In the Free State province, where large numbers of Basotho and Afrikaners (and others) now live together, a new post-apartheid society is being built in the 21st century.

The challenge is similar to that faced by Moshoeshoe 150 years ago. As you will see tonight, he did a remarkable thing in forging a new nation out of a fragmented society. He also created a remarkable spirit of reconciliation and a remarkable style of leadership.

Not all people in South Africa know the history of Moshoeshoe. Many Basotho – but not all – are well versed in the history of Moshoeshoe, and his name is honoured in many a street, town and township. Many white people know very little of him, or have a very constrained or even biased view of his role and legacy. In Africa and the world, he his much less known than, for instance, Shaka. (In Lesotho, obviously, he is widely recognised and praised.)

We already benefit from his legacy: the people of the Free State share a tradition of moderation and reconciliation rather than one of aggression and domination.

With Moshoeshoe, together with Afrikaner leaders and reconciliators such as President MT Steyn and Christiaan de Wet, we have much to be thankful for.

Our challenge is take this legacy further: to forge a new society in which different cultural, language and racial groups – Basotho, Afrikaners and others – will all feel truly at home.

Bit by bit, on school grounds, on university campuses, in each town and city, people must shape the values and principles that will mould this new non-racial, multicultural and multilingual society.

A shared sense of history, shared stories and shared heroes are important elements in such a process.

Through this documentary film about King Moshoeshoe, the UFS commits itself to developing a shared appreciation of the history of this country and to the establishment of the Free State Province as a model of reconciliation and nation-building.

Moshoeshoe is also a strong common element, and binding factor, in the relationship between South Africa / the Free State, and its neighbour, Lesotho.

For the University of the Free State this also is an integral part of real transformation – of creating a new unity amidst our diversity.

Transformation has so many aspects: whilst the composition of our student and staff populations have been changing, many other things change at the same time: new curricula, new research, new community service learning projects.

In also includes creation of new values, new (shared) histories, new (shared) heroes.

It includes the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus, which serves a region where so many of the children of Moshoeshoe live, including her majesty Queen Mopeli.

We see in Moshoeshoe a model of African leadership – of reconciliation and nation-building – that can have a significant impact in South Africa and Africa as a whole.

We also find in the legacy of King Moshoeshoe the possibility of an “founding philosophy”, or “defining philosophy”, for the African renaissance.

To develop this philosophy, we must gain a deeper understanding of what really happened there, of his role, of his leadership.

Therefore the University of the Free State will encourage and support further research into the history, politics and sociology of the Moshoeshoe period, including his leadership style.

We hope to do this in partnership with National University of Lesotho.

The Moshoeshoe documentary is one element of a long-term project of the UFS. The other elements of the project that we are investigating are possible PhD-level research; a possible annual Moshoeshoe memorial lecture on African leadership; and then possible schools projects and other ways and symbols of honouring him.

It is my sincere wish that all communities of the Free State and of South Africa will be able to identify with the central themes of this documentary, and develop a shared appreciation for leaders such as King Moshoeshoe and the legacy of peace, reconciliation and nation-building that they have left us.

Prof. Frederick Fourie
Rector and Vice-Chancellor
University of the Free State
13 October 2004.

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